DIEGO LAINEZ|| midnight shift.

[45] only for you.

"y/n? can i take you out for dinner tonight?"

you sat there and watched how he nervously fiddled with his sweatshirt's string. nothing about him scream confidence or arrogance. his body language showed he wasn't asking to win you back but asking to not lose you.

"what time?" your voice quivered, scared that accepting might lead yourself to a bad situation. you didn't want to date him again if he was going to continue worry about britney and the media.

"what time do you get out?"

"midnight.."

a wave of deja vu hits you. you've relived this scene before, most definitely in the past. you swallow any salvia that you had in your mouth before speaking up again.

"we can go out for breakfast tomorrow morning if you're too tired.."

he's quick to shoot down your suggestion, "NO no, it's okay. we can eat wherever you want to eat tonight."

the both of you awkwardly sat in place. it was only 8:30 and there wasn't much left talk about. you opened your mouth to speak but so did he. you closed it to let him talk but he notices.

"no go ahead!" he motions his hands to you as if he were introducing you to a crowd.

"oh i was going to ask if there was anything else you needed."

"no, i'm about to leave. practice ended like an hour ago. i just.." he thinks of a lame excuse to give you. he didn't want to tell you that he was here for you.

"i lost something and it took a while to find it."

"are you lying?"

"no"
...

"yes.."

you laugh as he poorly tried to cover up his lies. his heart starts beating a bit faster when he hears your laughter. how long has it been since he's heard it?

"i love you laughter y/n."

he may have said it out loud but it was worth seeing your reaction. you started to turn red in your ears then it slowly spread to your cheeks. you just smiled and stared into his eyes with a sparkle in them. a certain sparkle he used to wake up to almost all the time.

"thank you diego"

he spent the rest of his time in your office. waiting a full four hours for your shift to end. in between those hours, there was a lot of comfortable silence and small talk. he then mentioned his mom.

"you know, my mom actually threw her entire purse at me when she saw the article. she almost killed me, i had to hide in the bathroom."

you try to stifle your laugh but you'd eventually let it all out. as you laugh, you envision diego hiding in the bathroom's tub or in the cabinets.

"she's really fond of you. i hate how i introduced you to her only for us to stop talking for a month. actually i just hate we stopped talking for a month."

you take a moment to look at him. he had a sad small spread across his face. you wanted to reach over and kiss him. to tell him it will never happen again and comfort him. your ignorant pride wouldn't let you though.

instead you grabbed his hand and told him, "i'm really sorry diego for everything that's happened. but when we start over, can we keep things private?"

"i'll do anything as long as you're by my side y/n."

the clock strikes 12 and the both of you were already walking out the building. hand in hand, he guides you to his car.

"i don't know if you want me to send someone to drop off your car to your house or if you want to drive in your own car."

"diego, i haven't lived in my house since the whole scandal that started a month ago."

he looks over to you as if you gone crazy. "wait what? why not?"

"too many death threats and i've gotten doxxed so many times on twitter." you laughed.

he frowns. nothing about that sounded amusing or funny. "so where have you been staying? your parents place or..?"

"different hotels. it wasn't cheap but it's better to be safe than be sorry."

his frown deepens as he realizes it was somewhat his fault. "why didn't you tell me? i could've paid for the hotels or gotten them for free for you. hell, you could've stayed at my place!!"

you looked down at the cracked concrete. refusing to make eye contact for the moment because you were thinking. you followed the cracked lines and then looked back at him.

"well at the time i only had one thought in mind. 'i'm better off not being around him', i didn't want to contact you at all. for my mental health and well being."

"i'm really sorry y/n.. i just want to make you the happiest person in the world."

"don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault. it was those people who are so stupid and selfish that threatened me."

"you want to stay over at my place after dinner? i mean not that we'll do anything unless you want too." you watched as a light blushed spread across his face. his hand started to squeeze yours a little tighter after he said it.

"we'll see diego, let's just go eat."

"okay" he squeaked out. "i still have some of your clothes in my closet. you can wear those or my clothes."

"i think i'll be stealing yours." you said as you nudged him.

on the way to the restaurant, diego rambles about how awful that month was for him. how he barely got any time on the field and picked up bad habits. how he'd either overwork himself or not work at all.

"don't worry though, i have it all together now. i think i just got unlucky."

you hum in the response. you already knew the true reason why he didn't do well. it was because you had left him and he had britney harassing him 24/7.

the car comes to a stop and you look up to see where you were. it was a small diner that was open 24 hours and had little to no people.

"stay here." he said as he got out the car. you wondered what he was going to do but soon realize as he made his way to your side.

diego opens the car door and extends his hand over to you. "always gentleman, aren't you?"

"only for you amor."